In recent years we have got used to the idea of separate figure sets for different aspects of any particular army, including the command and support elements. By 1939 however the difference in appearance in the field between ordinary troops and officers was minimal, quite deliberately, so you don’t usually get command sets this late in history. This set has just two human poses, one an officer with sword drawn, and a second figure with no apparent superior rank at all. The officer is largely identifiable only by the kit that he carries – he has a pistol, map case and binocular case rather than the usual trooper equipment. His curved sword may also distinguish him in this regard, but otherwise he is dressed much like the rest of the men. Although he has drawn his sword, he seems to be doing nothing in particular, which is a perfectly valid pose, but not one to get excited about. However he is correctly depicted here, although he should have a gas mask case too - officers can be gassed as easily as any private.

The second man appears to be a simple trooper, and again he is relaxed and not doing anything in particular. Unlike the previous set, both these figures come with head already attached, but the trooper has a choice of weapons to attach to his back. These are a rifle, a rifle in a cover, a squad automatic weapon and an anti-tank rifle with a cover over the mechanism. All are valid weapons, and having a choice is useful. This man seems to be holding the reins with his right hand, and rests his left on his hip.

The two horse poses for these men are shown in our second row, and are the same as those found in the Uhlans on Horses set. They seem to be in quite a hurry, but we would have thought walking or standing poses would be more appropriate for these relaxed riders. The poses are not great but we have seen much worse, and they have the correct saddle furniture, including the long sword under the saddle (so the officer will have two swords!). Most obviously both lack any reins, but are otherwise pretty authentic.

The men both wear standard Polish cavalry uniform at the time, starting with the Adrian-style helmet, the tunic with four pockets, breeches and long boots, since they are mounted troops. The officer’s kit has already been described, and the trooper has the usual bread bag and gas mask canister. The set comes with separate entrenching tools, but the officer would not have this, and the trooper has no space to place one, so an unused item. Of interest is the ammunition pouches on the trooper’s belt, which are two pairs of quite large design, making them suitable for the wz.28 squad automatic weapon. Since all members of such a team had these pouches, as did those armed with the anti-tank rifle, it is correctly included here. Therefore the uniform and kit here is correctly done.

The other element in the set is what you might call a pack horse. This has a harness with two fairly small boxes attached, and what looks like a well wrapped anti-tank gun. This last item is separate and needs to be glued on. It’s a useful piece, and having extra horses to carry larger weapons and ammunition makes sense, but is not the kind of logistics usually included in figure sets.

The sculpting of the men is not great, and while the detail is there it is vague and unclear. The faces are really quite poor, and the hands lack much definition, although the separate weapons are quite nicely done. The general proportions are okay, and the horses are quite nice too. Each comes as two halves, which makes a difference for the pack animal as it is in a credible standing pose that a single-piece model could not have achieved. Bases are also separate, but as the set is made in a hard plastic gluing is easy and firm. The horse halves fit together well, but everything needs gluing to stay put. The officer fits the two horses well, but the trooper has his legs a bit too close together, so does not sit in the saddle. We found no flash on anything here, and thanks to the multi-part horses and simple human poses there is no excess plastic either.

Since Polish cavalry did not usually conduct charges or other dramatic actions during the 1939 campaign, the staid poses here and in the other cavalry set are appropriate, if inevitably not dramatic. While the accuracy is fine, there isn’t actually much in this set, and while we recognise that it is primarily a game piece, for everyone else there is not a lot on offer. The sculpting of the humans make this an unappealing set, and while it does the job we would describe it as adequate rather than anything more.